


Freedom's Cost

by GntlmnBstrd



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 01:28:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14125167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GntlmnBstrd/pseuds/GntlmnBstrd
Summary: She had waited for an opportunity to be free of her gilded cage, to be free of the heavy hand of the Templars, and it finally came in the form of the Blight and in the Commander of the Grey of Ferelden.





	Freedom's Cost

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Dragon Age, etc etc. The only thing I own are the many errors and no you can't have them, they are mine.

Neria kept her head down and her pace measured as she walked past the group of Templars guarding the door to the library. She appeared to be the perfect apprentice to anyone who bothered to look, even as she chaffed at the chains the Chantry, and it’s Templars, had shackled her with. The atmosphere of the Circle of Magi was oppressive, and it reeked of the despair found only in groups of people who have lost hope. It reminded Neria of the Alienage in more ways than one. Most of the mages never noticed, having been brought to the circle when they were too young to remember a time before their confinement. Neria Surana was not one of those mages. She felt it during every lesson, during every walk, during every waking hour. Her only reprieve being her treks through the fade during her dreams. She wasn’t quite sure how the older mages had maintained their sanity over the years, but she wasn’t planning on finding out. She had waited for an opportunity to be free of her gilded cage, to be free of the heavy hand of the Templars, and it finally came in the form of the Blight and in the Commander of the Grey of Ferelden.

Duncan had been in the Tower for over a week. An entire week and Neria had yet to exchange anything but a brief greeting with the man. She knew he was here for recruits, and she also knew if he got his information from anyone but herself, she would be passed over as nothing but a meek and obedient Chantry puppet. The Grey Wardens were perhaps the only way for her to legally leave the circle with no repercussions. Duncan wouldn’t be in the Circle for much longer, so Neria decided on a direct approach, which is how she found herself knocking on the door to the room that the Grey Warden was assigned on arrival.

The door opened to reveal Duncan, still wearing his Warden armor which had a griffin emblazoned on the chest. He seemed unsurprised to find her at his door. He simply stepped aside and allowed her to pass into the room before closing the door behind them. “Is there something that I can do for you, Neria?”

Neria was surprised that he remembered her name after their brief meeting almost a week ago. She looked the man in the eye and spoke with a serious tone. “I believe that we can help each other. You are looking for recruits to join the Wardens and I am looking for a way out of the Circle that won’t lead to constantly being on the run from the Templars.” She said, cutting straight to the chase. This wasn’t a Senior Enchanter of the circle who delighted in politics and double meanings so she expected he would appreciate at her directness.

Duncan looked at her seriously, seeming to peer into the depths of her very being. “I must admit, I was hoping to have more success in finding recruits. The Circle has always been a promising place to find prospective Wardens. Unfortunately, most of the more capable mages have already joined in with the King’s army to combat the horde, and those that are left are either elderly or very young. I have spoken to Irving about you, and while he was complimentary, he claimed that most of your talent lies in healing. And while healing is indeed a useful skill, the darkspawn wouldn’t spare you just because you’re there to heal.”

Neria held back a string of curses. Her impeccably created persona within the circle might just come to bite her in the ass. She quickly cast a silencing spell on the room with as little magic as possible so it wouldn’t alert the Templars. Neria steeled herself in the face of Duncan’s probing gaze and decided to jump in head first. “I have far more ability than simply healing. It is simply the only skill I allow the Templars and by extension the other mages to see. The Templar’s don’t like it when a mage shows talent in offensive focused magic, and they don’t like it when a mage is headstrong and stubborn. I’ve carefully built my reputation into something that allows me the most freedom and the least scrutiny from those who hold my leash,” She said, her disdain for the Templars coming through in her tone.

Duncan nodded and appeared to be contemplating her words. “I have noticed that you seem to be far stronger than the average circle mage. In fact, when you don’t think anyone is looking you walk like a warrior.”

“I was taught to fight without magic by a spirit of Valor in the fade.” Neria pause for a moment. “I have told no one this and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything. It’s the sort of thing that a Templar would happily kill me for.”

Duncan nodded seriously before tossing a sword to her that she hadn’t noticed before. Duncan drew his own and moved like lightning. Neria was barely able to raise her blade in time to block his incoming strike. She jumped back to give herself room, never taking her eyes off of her opponent.

The two circled one another and Neria watched Duncan move, hoping to find an opening, but she found none that would be easy to exploit without using magic. She moved in and made a few probing strikes at the Grey Warden that were easily knocked aside. She deduced that he was easily a match for Valor and she hoped that she could impress him enough convince him to take her from the Circle. She infused a small amount of magic in her legs and launched herself at her opponent with far more speed than she would normally have. When their swords connected, she could see the surprise in his eyes and didn’t fight the smirk that spread across her face. Their blades clashed several times in rapid succession before they once again backed off and began circling each other.

“I’m impressed. I admit I wasn’t sure whether you were telling the truth about learning to fight, but your skills are clearly far better than the Templars would ever allow. To be frank you appear to be far better than most Templars I’ve sparred with before.” Duncan said, not even remotely out of breath.

Neria tried not to let her pride at the words show in her face, if it wouldn’t twist him into a monstrosity, she would hope that Valor would also be proud of her skills. “While I’ve never been able to train with a sword on this side of the Veil, I’ve had thousands of hours of practice in my dreams.”

It seemed that Duncan believed her and so she decided to make a risky move to truly show her skill in both magic and swordsmanship. She feinted to Duncan’s right, purposefully leaving an opening for him to exploit. When the blade came in as she expected, she gathered her magic and shifted her arm into something more, her skin shifted into black scales reminiscent of a high dragon and her fingers elongated and sharpened into deadly claws.  She snapped her hand out and caught Duncan’s blade with her hand, before twisting it to the side and pointing her own at the Grey Warden’s throat. She held her blade in position for only a second before stepping away and giving Duncan a small bow.

Duncan returned the bow with an astonished expression on his face. It was extremely unlikely that he had ever seen magic wielded in such a way. “I’ve seen impressive displays of magic during my time in the Wardens, but I’ve never seen anything quite like that,” Duncan said, watching in fascination as Neria’s arm shifted back to its original state. “You would be an excellent addition to the wardens. I will speak to both Irving and Greagoir tomorrow to attempt to convince them to let you go. However, I don’t believe that the Knight-Commander will be amenable. If it comes down to it, would you be opposed to me using the Right of Conscription?” Duncan asked.

Neria smiled and let out a breath that seemed to contain the stress of a decade of confinement. “Do whatever you have to. The sooner I leave this place the better.” She handed Duncan his sword back and shook his hand, sealing their agreement. She walked back to her quarters with a bounce in her step and a fierceness to her countenance that had both the mages and the Templars doing double takes.


End file.
